Undiscovered Beauty
by ForeverRumbelle
Summary: In a drunken state, Gaston sells Belle to a monster. She learns she is betrothed to him and must remain as such for the safety of her kingdom. How will she find love in the untamed wilderness of seething Darkness?


_**Hello Everyone! I do not own any of the OUAT characters. You all let me know what you think! Will continue as I can.**_

A Future Unimaginable

Belle opens her eyes to take in the beauty of another day. She could not believe how fast time had gone. Today she was to be prepared to wed Gaston – a man whom she had no true love for, but whom she was honored to marry out of responsibility to her kingdom. Her mother had always told her to be strong, to fight for what she loved. Belle understood now that love is not for fairytales or love at first sight – but love is doing what is hard for the goodness of many.

"Good morning, Papa," she yawns out as he greets her in the hall. He stops, and she notices the solemn look on his face.

"Morning, my sweet daughter," he replies. She stares at him, eyes squinted in confusion. She reaches up and presses the back of her hand to his cheek, noticing dampness from tears he had recently shed.

"Papa?" she gently says. He looks to the ground. "Papa, what is wrong? Why are you like this?" He leans against the wall and begins to weep, covering his face in shame and babbling what cannot be understood. She holds him and stares at the picture of her mother which hangs above her father's weeping form. _'What could be wrong? Is it a memory of her mother; or did something happen to her betrothed?'_ She had never seen her father so distressed – not since her mother had passed away at least.

"Belle," he chokes out. "My precious daughter, I am so sorry for what I have done." He gets up and pulls out of her grip.

"What is wrong, Papa?" Silence fills the room with agony. He pulls a locket from his robe and places it in her hand, looking into her eyes.

"Gaston; he has sold you to a monster." She stares at her father, waiting for him to finish explaining what had been done.

"A monster? What kingdom is greater than you, Papa? We easily own some of the strongest military and wisest generals in the land. Have we bidden peace with them yet? Can we offer them riches or if they wish – I could go and speak with them." He shakes his head, wiping more tears from his eyes.

"Gaston has been banished, dear one," he replies; knowing his daughter would be devastated at the thought of him bearing the young man's blood on his hands on accord of her. "But the monster he has sold you to is greater than our armies and our riches; he is the evilest entity in the land and all the nations. He is the Dark One."

"Papa, what did he sell me for? What does this so called 'Dark One' want with me? Cannot we seek peace?" Her voice quivers as she speaks, heartbroken at the picture being unfolded before her eyes.

"No," he chokes out. "What has been done cannot be undone."

She watches as her father, the king, paces about the hallway – unsure of what to say, how to go about explaining what had taken place as she slept peacefully the night before. How to wake his own flesh and blood to the horror of being sold to a beast.

"Why papa," she says, cutting through the silence.

"Belle," he says. "Because Gaston is everything you said he was – selfish, cruel, and a damn fool!" He cries out. "He sold you," her father seethes, his shoulders heavy with the weight of his new reality. "He sold you while he was drunk . . . a soldier came in to the bar where he drank and warned of the Ogars coming. Which they are!" he yells, slamming his fists on the balcony. "however, my sweet Belle; although our kingdom is safe, your life is no longer yours."

"That's right, dearie," a high pitched voice sings in the corner. She turns and sees a brown eyed imp in the corner, his hands in the air as if he had settled a small matter of little importance. Her father sneers at the beast and takes his daughters arm, pulling her close to his side. She looks at her father and the Dark one – the reason for her being sold haunting her yet bringing out strength she had never known within her heart. _'Do the brave thing and bravery will follow,'_ she hears her mother whisper. Her father leans down and whispers,

"He sold you into engagement."

She looks at the beast again, her heart sinking with the certainty of what she must do. She turns and holds her father; who shakes and mutters apologies to soothe her, before turning to the beast.

"I will go with you."

He smiles, looking her up and down and approaching her.

"It's forever, dearie," he quips, testing her commitment. He could always suggest another deal – her firstborn, her father's life. The options were endless.

"Do you promise my family will be safe?" she asks, looking back at her father who watched her, too hopeless to speak.

"Yes. I promise," he says. He opens his hand, revealing a ring. She holds out her hand as he grabs her wrist and pushes it on – rather ungently. "Ha – ha!" he says, admiring his work. She looks up to see him wave his hands before loosing her grip, tumbling into darkness.

Without warning, Belle tumbles onto a cold wooden floor and nearly into a table which she falls partially under. The Dark one stands and watches her, not bothering to lend a hand or pay any attention to wince she gives as she finds her balance. He merely gives her a cold blank stare – as if deciding what to do with his newfound prize. She looks him in the eyes after brushing herself off.

"So . . . um," she stutters,

"The name is Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrumplestiltskin," he states, giving a dramatic bow as if his name should mean something to her.

"So you are not the 'Dark One?'" she inquires, wondering if her fate truly was worse then what was currently being presented to her.

"Well . . . you could call me that," he utters, rather disgusted. She looks at the ring on her finger, signifying her capture rather than any sort of excellence or beauty. Although she had been engaged to Gaston for three years, they had hardly interacted outside of holidays. She had no real grasp on what sort of atrocities may be expected of her; only the basics of romance and some of the basic actions associated with it. She shyly looks up at Rumplestiltskin and notices his softening features – she could tell the castle was where his security abode.

"I am Belle," she says, curtsying. He looks at her, and it seems the awkwardness of the situation hits them both. She wonders how much he thought the agreement through before deciding he wanted a woman in his castle. Or perhaps he just lacks interest for this peculiar occasion. For being so dark though . . . she holds little fear of him. If anything; at worst he seemed like a deeply troubled man. Perhaps no different than Gaston. He begins to walk through the dining hall towards a staircase, and she follows him.

"This is my castle," he says. "I expect little of you, except you answer to my command and keep your hands off my things." He looks behind him and she nods as he continues.

"And the engagement?" she asks. He stops at a door at the end of one of the hallways.

"There is no need for you to associate with me," he says. "I seek no companionship, only for someone to watch over my castle while I am gone." She nods her head once more, slightly disappointed but also relieved. The thought of remaining unloved for the remainder of her life empties an endless void within her; however, she is grateful he is not so beastly as to rape her. He opens a door to reveal a small room with a window in the corner, a small bathroom and plain sheets. It is worse then what she knew many of the peasants to live in within her hometown. "This is your room, dearie," he quips, using that high pitched, tangy voice that made her stomach flip. "You will meet me tomorrow and prepare us breakfast and tea by seven." With those words he disappears in a cloud of purple smoke. She falls on her bed and begins to weep, broken for the love which she has so quickly lost.

 _ **Please Review! And thank you so much for reading!**_


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